Blood is constituted from blood cell components and plasma components. Blood cell components include red blood cells, white blood cells, and blood platelets.
A combination of hemoglobin in the red blood cells and blood glucose is known as glycohemoglobin. The more sugar that remains in the blood, the more glycohemoglobin is correspondingly obtained.
One example of glycohemoglobin is HbA1c. The measured value of HbA1c correlates with the mean value of the blood-sugar level for approximately the past 60 days from the time of blood collection. Based on that, it is possible to understand the blood condition of a subject for this period.
The collected blood is placed in a container and a rotor is put in place, with the bottom of the container facing out. When the container is rotated, a high gravity is applied to the blood, and the blood cell parts with greater specific gravity sink to the bottom.
Based on that, the plasma components are separated as a supernatant (centrifugation). Moreover, even without centrifugation, when the collected blood is placed in a container, the blood cell parts with greater specific gravity sink to the bottom.
Generally, when dispensing a serum, a probe is shallowly inserted into a container, the serum is absorbed by a specified amount only, and the absorbed serum is dispensed into a reaction container.
On the other hand, when dispensing the red blood cells that sink to the bottom of the container, it is necessary to insert the probe into the container deep and to absorb the red blood cells that have sunk on the bottom of the container.
With regard to the automated analyzer, in order to improve the accuracy of the dispensing, there is a probe in which the internal diameter and the outer diameter of the tip is formed so as to be as small as possible, and in which the overall length of the probe is supplemented from the tip to the upper side. Based on this, a step part is formed on the probe.
When performing an operation to absorb a sample that contains the red blood cells that have sunk to the bottom of the container, lower the step part of the probe from a predefined position above the liquid level of the sample inside the container to an operating position below the liquid level of the sample. After absorbing the red blood cells, raise the probe from the operating position to the predefined position. Subsequently, rotate the raised probe to the position of the reaction container and dispense the absorbed red blood cells into the reaction container.
When raising the probe from the operating position to the predefined position, the sample is attached to the step part of the probe that passes through the liquid level of the sample.
Subsequently, when rotating the raised probe to the position of the reaction container, the sample that is attached to the step part spatters and contaminates the surroundings. Moreover, there are cases in which the spattered sample enters the reaction container and causes a measurement error.
After absorbing the red blood cells, wash the outer side of the probe before dispensing into a reaction tube, and wash the inner side and the outer side of the probe after dispensing. With regard to the washing operation of the probe, lower the step part of the probe from the predefined position above the liquid level of the cleaning solution in the cleaning tank to the operating position below the liquid level of the cleaning solution. Based on that, it becomes possible to clean the outer diameter part of the probe, including the step part.
Moreover, by ejecting the water inside the probe from the tip of the probe, clean the internal diameter part. After cleaning the outer diameter part and the internal diameter part of the probe, raise the probe from the operating position to the predefined position.
Rotate the raised probe to a standby position and prepare for the subsequent dispensing of the sample.
When raising the probe from the operating position to the predefined position, cleaning water is attached to the step part of the probe that passes through the liquid level of the cleaning solution.
Subsequently, when rotating the raised probe to the standby position, the cleaning water that is attached to the step part spatters and contaminates the surroundings. Moreover, after cleaning the outer diameter part and the internal diameter part of the probe, when performing the subsequent dispensing of the sample, the cleaning water that is attached to the step part is brought inside the container, and the sample is diluted. This causes the measurement error in the constituent amount of reaction solution.
In order to cause the sample or the cleaning solution to be less likely to be attached to the step part of the probe, a phenomenon in which a sample or water that is attached to the probe side moves to the liquid level side due to surface tension can be used. In order to use this phenomenon, when raising the probe from the operating position to the predefined position, a method for raising the probe at a low speed can be considered. However, there are facts in which in order to perform a series of actions of automatic analysis in a cycle of, for example, 4.5 seconds, the probe cannot be raised across all sections from the operating position to the predefined position at the low speed.
There is a technology in which, in order to remove the cleaning water that is attached to the probe, a gas is spurted on the probe. Moreover, there is a technology that vacuum-absorbs the cleaning water that is attached to the probe. As a technology that spurts the gas on the probe, there is a technology that is set up above the movement path of the probe, that spurts gas from both sides on the probe in motion, and that dries the probe. The conventional technology, in which a gas 2 is spurted from both sides against a probe 1, is described with reference to FIG. 20. The gas 2 is sent to a nozzle 4 via a gas tube 3. A pathway through which the probe 1 passes is provided in a holding block 5. On the both walls of the pathway, the nozzle 4 is provided. On the road surface of the pathway, an outlet 6 is provided. Resulting from the gas 2 that is sprayed from the nozzle 4, the cleaning water that is attached to the probe 1 is blown off. The cleaning water that is blown off turns into a droplet 7 and flows into a drainpipe 8 from the outlet 6.
With regard to the probe having the step part, the conventional technology that processes the sample or cleaning solution that is attached to the step part has been described above; however, regardless of the presence or absence of the step part, when pulling up a probe that is inserted deep into the sample, there are many cases in which the sample is attached to the tip part of the probe. The sample that is attached causes the spattering and contamination.
However, in order to remove the cleaning water that is attached to the probe, when using the technology that vacuum-absorbs the cleaning water that is attached to the probe, the structure of the cleaning tank turns complex. Moreover, in the technology in which the gas is spurted on the probe, although it depends on the ejection time and ejection amount, there is a problem in that drying the probe takes time.
Moreover, in order to reduce the amount of the sample that is attached to the tip part of the probe, the speed at which the probe is pulled up (ascending speed) may be set low. However, there were problems, in that raising the probe required a long time and in that the efficiency of the series of actions to dispense the sample decreased.